IF ...

Monday, 27 February 2017

When Christ hung dying on the Cross, despite His earlier betrayal,
arrest, humiliation, beatings and torture; despite suffering the most
painful of death and being taunted and tormented by His enemies, He
still had love in His heart and asked for forgiveness on behalf of these
people.

We are asked to do the same. We are asked to forgive others just as He
forgave us. When we recite the Prayer He taught us we seek His forgiveness
and promise to forgive others.

He also taught us to "Love one another as I have loved you". A Commandment no less.

Yet, when we consider both of these teachings from our Lord, to love one
another and to forgive whatever hurt is done to us, we cannot help but
wander whether it is at all possible.

When Christ forgave on the Cross and loved as He has loved it; was a
Divine God who forgave and loved. Not a mere human like us. Can we,
humans, possibly love and forgive as He?

Christ knows full well that what He asks us is impossible for us to achieve. Yet He asks all the same.

Being human we are subject to all human failings. When we are hurt we
often feel resentment, ill-will and perhaps vengeance; and forgiveness
might be very difficult an emotion for us when the pain is still fresh
and raw. And in time, as the memories of the hurt and pains come back we
may still find it hard to forgive. Or, if we find it in our hearts to
forgive, as many indeed do, the memories bring back that pain once again
and, at the very least, we feel hard done by.

To forgive totally, as Christ did, is not within our grasp because we are not as Divine as He.

And to love unequivocally, all those within our circle of acquaintance,
never mind our enemies, and to turn the other cheek is certainly not
within our powers. No matter how much we try, there will always be one
person whom we do not like, who rubs us the wrong way, whom we'd rather
avoid. Yet we're asked to love one another as He has loved us.

Impossible.

So ... what are we to do? Are we doomed to failure? Unable to forgive totally and to love without reservation?

Our response to Christ's Commandment is to try as best as we can to obey
it. Through gritted teeth perhaps, we should try again and again to
forgive and to love. The memories of the hurts done to us will return,
but these should not stop us from forgiving again and again.

We will probably fail ... often. But this should not stop us from
trying. We will never achieve the same level of forgiveness and love as
Christ, but His example should urge us on to try harder.

Saints did not become Saints because they were necessarily good at all times. They were often sinners who kept on trying.

Friday, 24 February 2017

Looking from the sidelines, it seems to me that there is a big Cauldron of Hatred out there in the world filled with anxiety, bitterness, anger and even hatred amongst its other ingredients of evil.

It seems that in whatever walk of life, be it religion, politics, science or the arts, even dare I say, in one's personal life, there are unhappy people who resent their current situation, regardless of how rich or poor they are, regardless of how healthy or not, and regardless of anything else that can be used as a yardstick to measure their anxiety and angst.

People are generally unhappy and they are dumping their anger and frustrations in this huge Cauldron of Hatred which exists somewhere or other on this earth. It could be in the newspapers, on television and radio, on social media on the Internet, or indeed in their personal lives at work, at play, or even at home when they argue and vent with their spouse, children, neighbours or even the poor cat who gets kicked for no apparent reason.

Have you not noticed the negative tone of some of the stories in your newspaper? Or on TV programs, whether it is the News or even soap programs perpetrating sadness and bitterness as if art imitates real life and or vice versa? Have you not noticed the many postings on social media where individuals pour out their anger and malcontent for all to see and share? And in personal life too; can you not remember the last time the cat has had to hide in a panic to safeguard what is left of his nine lives?

Why all this negativeness? I hear you ask.

I am waiting ... are you asking as I'm expecting?

Why all this vile forever filling the Cauldron of Hatred?

Has it to do with the diets we are all eating? A shortage of good old fashioned roughage such as bran, for instance? Or a good spoonful of cod liver oil before going to bed?

Why are so many of us so upset about this and that and the other thing? Especially the other thing. You know what they say. If it is not this it is always the mother (in-law)!

Is it because we have become greedy and we all want what the other person has and more besides?

Where is the peace we are supposed to have towards each other? Loving one's neighbours and turning the other cheek? (By the way, I mean facial cheek, not your backside!).

Where is the forgiveness time and again and not just seven times seventy?

That's why we are behaving in the despicable way that we do. It has nothing to do with a lack of broccoli or other vile vegetables in our meals.

It is because we have forgotten to "Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:35.

Wednesday, 22 February 2017

It's amazing how many Christians I know who look down on you, (me), with an air of superiority and go through life as if they have a permanent bad smell under their nose. Perhaps they should eat less beans!

Here's what happened many years ago. The priest encouraged and pestered me to join the Church Parish Council. Eventually, I agreed and attended my first meeting one evening.

There were about sixty people sitting in cinema style and at the top table sat the priest and four other people.

After half-an-hour, as one of the ladies at the top table was standing and speaking, I remembered that I had to pick up someone at the railway station. I slid out of my seat silently and made my way towards the exit. Whereupon, the lady at the top table said loudly: "I see that Mr Moubarak is leaving in a huff. Perhaps he does not agree with what we propose!"

Everyone turned round and looked at me. I wanted to stop and explain; but my appointment at the railway station was more important. So I got out without saying a word.

About an hour later I returned to the church. The meeting was over and they were all mingling with teas, coffees and biscuits.

I saw the woman in question with a group of people. I had seen her in church many times but did not know who she was. I approached her. She saw me and left the group and came towards me.

"You have me at a disadvantage," I said, "you know who I am. Would you do me the courtesy of letting me know who you are?"

"Don't you know who I am?" she replied, looking down at me, "I am the Chair Person of the Parish Council Social Committee!"

"I see," I mumbled, "I did not know that the Parish Council had a Social Committee. And I still don't know who you are!"

She sighed in exasperation and hissed, "I am Miss Stephany Hormsley!"

At that point the devil got the better of me and I said something which I deeply regretted. I replied, "Is this by choice, or have you frightened all potential husbands away?"

She did not reply. I saw her lower lip quiver once or twice.

To retrieve the situation I said, making matters worse, "I'm sorry Miss Hormsley. The name means nothing to me and I still don't know who you are!"

She said nothing again, and turned round and left me.

Later I checked with some people and it turned out that she was the Head Teacher at one of our schools as well as being on several Church and Educational Committees.

I suppose that gave her the right to look down on me and embarrass me when I left the meeting as inconspicuously as possible.

Thursday, 16 February 2017

Let's get straight to the point, un-pallatable as it may be, the world is heading for the Apocalypse. And this is how it happens, according to latest, and very accurate, research by various scientists.

The sun, the source of all energy to this planet, will run out of fuel in approximately a billion years time. As it runs out of the very essence that makes it burn so brightly, the sun itself will implode on itself very much like a shrinking balloon or ball and enter a self-created black hole sucking in the whole universe, including the earth, within it.

Coinciding with such an event, and perhaps related to it, a whole galaxy of stars will be drawn towards the earth and crash it with such force resulting in extreme thunder and lightning and fires consuming the planet and all upon and within it.

However, horrible as this scenario may be, yet another un-related event, is likely to happen many centuries earlier which will result in the extinction of the human race.

This is due to the fact of an inherent faulty Y chromosome in men. Since it is the male chromosome which determines the sex of a baby being born, this faulty Y chromosome will drastically reduce the number of males being born to humankind to the point where eventually only females will be produced. As the number of men is reduced to zero the whole reproduction system will be in jeopardy and humanity will cease to exist; unless science can find a solution before then. Which seems highly unlikely.

Consequently, the human race will be faced with yet another disaster as there will be no men to catch the spiders when they fall in the bath.

The population of spiders will increase drastically as they breed in every bath in the world and climb upon each other to escape out of the bathroom and spread throughout the world.

There will be spiders' webs everywhere getting thicker and thicker and stronger and able to trap bigger preys other than flies and insects.

Instead, the webs will be full of all kinds of animals and birds, and even humans, who happened to get caught and served as a meal to such giant spiders.

With cows being eaten to extinction there will be a world shortage of burgers which will in itself precipitate the Apocalypse.

As already scientifically proven, the cow's digestive system produces large amounts of methane gas contributing to global warming. With such a drastic reduction in the world's cows population this will greatly precipitate a new ice age - known as a Popsicle.

One glimmer of light in the horizon is that scientists and others have often wrongly predicted the end of the world.

Remember when they said the world will end in 2012?

Of course, the world did not end in 2012 because we had the London Olympics in the UK and we had spent a lot of tax payers' money preparing for it. The Government, therefore, decreed by Act of Parliament that the end of the world would be postponed until the country has had an opportunity to recoup the investment made in organising and running the Olympics Games.

Once again, Britain led the world and saved it at the same time. By its example, it seems humanity has a real chance to avoid such world-ending disasters predicted by scientific research.

It is suggested that world Governments should hold regularly big events such as the Olympic Games, or other sporting or musical events, at yearly intervals so that people have something to look forwards to and not worry about the shortage of burgers and fries.

Additionally, it is recommended that menfolk should teach their wives and girl-friends how to catch spiders out of bath tubs.

Tuesday, 14 February 2017

I was reading a science book the other day and I was fascinated by the
number of facts which I did not know. In fact the more I read the more I
realised how much I did not know and how ignorant I really am.

For example; did you know that the majority of men with beards (about
68%) sleep with their beards tucked under the bed covers rather than
over the bed covers?

And that beards grow faster and longer than hair on men's heads?

Human ears grow bigger in proportion to the rest of our bodies as we
grow older? I knew an old man once with very large ears sticking out quite a
bit. He looked like a car with its doors open. When he was outdoors, at the slightest gust of wind he would pirouette round like a hotel revolving door.

Did you know that if you had a meal in a restaurant that is totally dark
you would not be able to tell the difference between steak and a
beefburger?

Did you also know that if you're in a vacuum and you shout loud no one
would hear you? And it would make no difference whether the vacuum cleaner is switched on or off, or whether the bag
is full of dirt and dust or whether it is empty?

Do you realise that if you had a small bird in a cage, and as you happen
to weigh the cage, if the bird jumped up from its perch then its weight
would not register on the scale? Also, if you were to weigh the cage under water the small bird would drown?

And in order to peel and cut an onion without tears you have to do it
under water; that is if you can hold your breath for that long?

Did you know that Absolute Zero is the
lowest possible temperature you can ever get to? You just cannot get any lower
than Absolute Zero. It is in fact -273.15° on the Celsius scale
and -459.67° on the Fahrenheit scale. It is over 100 kilos on the bathroom
scale if you have been over-eating lately.

At Absolute Zero nothing really happens.
The buses will not run so it is pointless waiting for them at the bus stop. And
don’t even be tempted to lick the bus stop sign whilst you're there because there
may be all sort of germs on it.

Absolute Zero is also what most men get from their wives when they've said or done something that upsets them.

Moving up from Absolute Zero, the highest temperature that has ever been
recorded is on a ladder 35 feet tall. It was when an amorous young knight in
Olde England attempted to deliver a plate of spaghetti to his paramour who was trapped
in a tower because the door was frozen solid and he couldn't
turn the key in the lock.

Which reminds me … I once saw a ghost with
an eye-patch! He said he was going through the keyhole when someone put the key
in.

Here's a short video about viruses which you should watch for your own health.

Sunday, 12 February 2017

Originally, the Mass in Eastern Europe, where it started, was celebrated in Greek.

With time, as Christianity spread further West into Europe it was celebrated in Latin.

And as time moved on, it is now celebrated in English, or whichever language is spoken in the Country where Mass is celebrated.

Except for three words which have survived time and are still from the original Greek Mass.

Kyrie Eleison

Christe Eleison

Meaning "Lord have mercy" and "Christ have mercy".

It is important to remember that by "Lord", or "Sir" we do not mean that we look up to Our Lord as some Master or Ruler. In this context, the word "Kyrie" means "Lord" in the sense of a child looking up to one's loving parent and asking for help, love, guidance and protection.

So when we sing at Mass "Kyrie Eleison" we look up to God our loving Father and ask Him to be always by our side and have mercy on us. And we call upon Christ His Son, in the same prayer.

Wednesday, 8 February 2017

A most odd thing happened to me at the restaurant the other day. I was at a business meeting and I took the client I was with, Veronique Tombal, to a French restaurant.

She had frogs' legs; but I'll admit the rest of her body was superb.

Anyway, we sat down at table and after ordering our meals I asked for a bottle of Beaujolais. The waiter brought the bottle and, as is customary, he poured a few drops in a glass to be tasted first. Then, to my surprise, he picked up the glass and tasted it himself. I've never ever seen such a thing before. Usually, it is the customer who tastes the wine, and usually says something complementary about it as it is served to all at table.

But this time, the waiter, or sommelier as he is known, tasted the wine himself. Stranger still, he then declared, "Oh non monsieur ... ziz wine, eet haz been corked. Eet ees no good! I will gett anozer bottle!"

He then went away and returned with another bottle, which he opened there and then and pouring a drop or two in a glass he tasted it again.

"Zis one is better!" he said, as he served me and my business client.

Then, even more stranger, he poured wine in the glass he had already used for himself and sat with us at table.

I did not know what to say or do. I did not want to seem ungracious and tell him to go away, and before I had time to speak he said, "Eet eez very important to make sure ze wine eet has not been corked. Zis ees when ze bottle haz been badly opened and ze wine has touched ze cork and ze atmosphere at ze same time. Ze wine eez zen ruined."

"I see," I said, not having understood a word. Veronique smiled and said nothing.

"Wine, ees a very important part of ze meal," he continued, "especially in la belle France!"

Veronique smiled and asked, "Avez-vous toujours été un sommelier?" Meaning, have you always been a wine waiter?"Oh non, madame ..." he declared, "before zat I was a snail farmer. I used to farm snails for ze best restaurants in Paris. Eet was a slow job sometimes aving to round zem up for ze night! I ad a sheep dog which walked slowly around ze field and he pushed ze snails with hiz nose in ze direction of ze barn where we kept ze snails for ze night! "Wee started at about 2 in ze afternoon and got all ze snails in ze barn by 6 in ze evening. "Ze next morning wee let zem out again to go in ze field for a promenade and to eat ze fresh grass.""That's not how you farm snails," I said quietly.

"In ze morning wee started a search for zem. Wee searched all around ze farm for a ten metres radius and wee did not find zem. Not even one. Zey ad all escaped. So wee brought in ze police elicopters to fly up and search wider. Wee widened ze search by anozer alf metre all around but wee found nothing. Zee snails ad travelled more than ten and a alf metres in one day!"

Thursday, 2 February 2017

Once upon a time there was an old nomadic trader who got tired of
his way of life and wanted to retire. He called his three children
and told them to take over the business. To help them start he
decided to divide his herd of 11 camels amongst them.

He said: "The youngest amongst you should have 1/6 of my camels. The
eldest should have 1/2 of my camels. And the one born second should
have 1/4 of my camels!"

The children took away the 11 camels and discussed amongst
themselves how they are to divide them. However they started, they
had to kill at least one camel and divide it amongst them; which was
a waste.

CAN YOU HELP THEM DIVIDE THE 11 CAMELS WITHOUT KILLING ANY OF THEM?

Work it out for a while before looking down at the answer ... It can be done with a little lateral thinking. I know the temptation is there to look for the answer, but don't do so right away.

Meanwhile ... here is a short interlude.

By the way, did you know that a camel with one hump is called a dromedary?

And a camel with two humps is called a bactrian camel.

And a camel with three humps is called Humphrey?

OK ... now let's go back to the three brothers and their problem.

The three brothers went to see the elder of the village and told him
their problem. He asked them to bring his own camel which was tied
to a palm tree. He now had 12 camels in the herd.

Music

RICHARD THE LION LIVER

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VISIONS

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VISIONSISBN 978 1536 976076By VICTOR S. E. MOUBARAK

A vibrant tale of supernatural events, with a fast-paced storyline and strong believable characters, “VISIONS” is a challenging must-read Christian book for everyone ready for a reality check on what they actually believe.

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GOD'S SHEPHERD

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TO LOVE A PRIEST

When Father Ignatius’ past catches up with him there is no way to escape the consequences for him and those around him. He must face facts regardless of how seriously they could affect his vocation as a priest.